9,240 Shares in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME) Acquired by WBI Investments LLC

WBI Investments LLC bought a new stake in CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ:CME - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,240 shares of the financial services provider's stock, valued at approximately $2,146,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CME. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its holdings in CME Group by 570.6% in the fourth quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 114 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 97 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC grew its position in CME Group by 50.0% in the fourth quarter. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC now owns 129 shares of the financial services provider's stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Financial Life Planners acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new stake in CME Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. 87.75% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on CME shares. Raymond James raised shares of CME Group from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $287.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 10th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $279.00 to $283.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of CME Group from $200.00 to $219.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of CME Group to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of CME Group from $223.00 to $211.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, CME Group presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $256.80.

CME Group Stock Performance

CME Group stock traded up $0.26 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $282.00. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,783,281 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,184,866. The firm has a market cap of $101.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.16, a PEG ratio of 6.76 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $267.11 and a 200-day moving average price of $248.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.01, a quick ratio of 1.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. CME Group Inc. has a twelve month low of $190.70 and a twelve month high of $286.48.

CME Group (NASDAQ:CME - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The financial services provider reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.61 by $0.19. CME Group had a return on equity of 13.62% and a net margin of 57.52%. The company had revenue of $1.64 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.50 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that CME Group Inc. will post 10.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

CME Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 9th will be paid a dividend of $1.25 per share. This represents a $5.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 9th. CME Group's dividend payout ratio is currently 50.30%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hilda Harris Piell sold 3,984 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $250.47, for a total transaction of $997,872.48. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,046 shares in the company, valued at $6,774,211.62. The trade was a 12.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Charles P. Carey sold 3,000 shares of CME Group stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $272.56, for a total value of $817,680.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 5,400 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,471,824. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,884 shares of company stock worth $7,389,843. 0.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About CME Group

CME Group Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates contract markets for the trading of futures and options on futures contracts worldwide. It offers futures and options products based on interest rates, equity indexes, foreign exchange, agricultural commodities, energy, and metals, as well as fixed income and foreign currency trading services.